In the E53 I've learned the "e-brake" is more of a parking brake than anything, but its possible yours could need some loosening up, you can find the procedure by google searching, it involves taking a lug nut out and putting a flat head in the hole so you can turn the adjuster on the parking brake shoes.

Congrats!

You can also cheat by simply popping off the park brake lever boot and backing off the nuts for the cables.

:thumbup:

Even if you wear size 6? Lol

ny x5 guy, you might also check your service records to see if the the differential, transfer case, and transmission fluids have been changed. At this age, even with low mileage and conscientious maintenance, something to consider doing if they haven't been changed. RB will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think your pre-facelift 2003 uses good quality synthetic ATF in the pre-XDrive transfer case. Spend some time reviewing the posts in the manual transmission thread started by RB [Ricky Bobby]; a lot of maintenance/service tips for those of us in the 3-pedal mafia live there :)